Chris Christie: This nation is turning into “people sitting on a couch waiting for their next government check”

posted at 5:03 pm on April 10, 2012 by Tina Korbe

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie followed George W. Bush on the stage at the Bush Institute Conference on Taxes and Economic Growth in New York today. Bush introduced Christie with apt words, complimenting the governor’s “enormous personality” and “belief in the individual.” Bush’s comments were more than justified by the content of Christie’s speech. With typical relentless, attention-getting honesty, Christie forecast a dire future for the country if we succumb to the left’s vision:

Christie said he hasn’t seen a less optimistic period in the country in his lifetime.

“Government’s telling them stop dreaming, stop striving, we’ll take care of you,” he said at a theater at the New York Historical Society. “We’re turning into a paternalistic entitlement society. That will not just bankrupt us financially, it will bankrupt us morally.”

“We’ll have a bunch of people sitting on a couch waiting for their next government check,” Christie said.

Christie wasn’t content to merely point out the negative, though: He launched rapidly into an articulation of an alternate vision, the vision he’s implemented in the state of New Jersey. He cited his recent veto of a millionaire’s tax and his current push for a 10 percent income tax cut as examples of pro-growth policies.

He also had interesting words about the importance of in-person interaction with those with whom we disagree. “We developed relationships with the other side of the aisle that allowed them to trust us. And that doesn’t happen overnight,” he said.”Day after day after day you have to sit with our colleagues and convince them of the goodness of your spirit and of the understanding that compromise is not a dirty word.”

“The goodness of your spirit.” Christie clearly recognizes what too many conservatives do not: Liberals, no less than conservatives, think they take the moral, principled approach to politics. Liberals often don’t recognize their own ambition, the influence the possibility of power exerts on them and the views they ultimately adopt.

The subject of “compromise” has itself become a controversial concept. As ideological purity has come to be valued above all, we’ve forgotten that we’re not just responsible for our moral claims, but also for the consequences of our action and inaction. As Michael Novak writes in his essay, “Errand into the Wilderness,” “I learned … that I must never again seek moral purity at the expense of responsibility for the results.”

The question of compromise is one that I haven’t yet resolved for myself, but Christie’s words come as an encouragement as I grapple with the question of when to stand on principle — even if it means someone else is able to run amok in the implementation of principles that are completely contrary to my own — and when to compromise. The first key is to forge relationships with those with whom we disagree. It’s indispensable and important, just as it’s indispensable and important to forge relationships with like-minded folks so as to be fortified when victory in the fight appears impossible.

Now that we’ve gotten a few obligatory fat jokes out of the way – he’s absolutely right. We’re headed for some bizarre combination of Idiocracy and the humans in WallE.
Naturally the libtards object to what he says (and I don’t care for his belief in globull warming) – but instead of proving him wrong, as usual, it’s personal attacks.

The man is correct. Case in point is Katrina at the NO projects. Many of those folks are on tape declaring they had no money and were waiting on their checks. That sclerosis is what dependence fosters.

Off topic, but out of curiousity do uppereastside and liberal4life lurk on this site 24/7 because whenever they post, they are ALWAYS in the first 5 posts. Are they sitting on their couches awaiting their government checks, laptops warmed up and ready to go. One thing for each of them to think about. If an HA regular or a Freeper were to try to comment on KOS or DU, as they do here, they wouldn’t last 5 posts before they were banned.

For years, the compromise was between the gov’t getting more power for Republican goals and the gov’t getting more power for Democractic goals. The reason compromise has become a dirty word is because now the compromise is between less gov’t control and more gov’t control, and the only compromise between those is the status quo.

Which means for either side to achieve their goals, they can’t allow for compromise. Yes, conservatives need to understand that the slide toward an entitlement state can’t be done overnight. But “moderates” need to understand that the only way these problems will get solved is by conservatives getting what they want, even if they don’t get as much of it as they’d like.

I think it’s very possible they’re paid by the DNC to be trolls in conservative sites.

One other possibility I’ve considered is that they are alternate personas of the HA staff to chime in with stupid liberal crap to stir things up and increase thread count. Just a little conspiracy theory thought – since it’s sometimes hard to believe real people could be so incredibly stupid.

BTW, Chris Christie is the LAST person that should be complaining about people on the couch, because, if it wasn’t for Cousin Pookie staying ON THE COUCH, then he might not have beaten Jon Corzine, if you know what I’m sayin’. ….

And what’s Krispy Kream Kristy sitting on the couch waiting for? A double cheese and anchovy pizza? Fat RINO. He needs to stop pontificating to everybody else about how great a “Conservative” he thinks he is, and look in a mirror. (Full girth, if they make them that big.) He and Slick Willard are two of the worst, most destructive RINOs the party and the People have been afflicted with, in a long time.

The question of compromise is one that I haven’t yet resolved for myself, but Christie’s words come as an encouragement as I grapple with the question of when to stand on principle — even if it means someone else is able to run amok in the implementation of principles that are completely contrary to my own — and when to compromise

Hmmmm. Kamikaze pilots didn’t have this quandry. Push the stick forward and sit on your hands at the crucial moment to maintain purity.

Off topic, but out of curiousity do uppereastside and liberal4life lurk on this site 24/7 because whenever they post, they are ALWAYS in the first 5 posts. Are they sitting on their couches awaiting their government checks, laptops warmed up and ready to go. One thing for each of them to think about. If an HA regular or a Freeper were to try to comment on KOS or DU, as they do here, they wouldn’t last 5 posts before they were banned.

xkaydet65 on April 10, 2012 at 5:26 PM

\

That’s our tax dollars at work. These clowns are high ranking WH staff members with state of the art computer monitoring systems and a whole litany of canned responses that automatically pop up whenever certain buzz words are used.

it’s the kind of stuff that would have made Himmler and Andropov proud except that these cretins sell out there country for a lot less than a dauchau and access to a bunch of floozies. Instead they do it for a paycheck and the privelege of fawning over zero and his nasty creature of a wife.

Don’t be fooled. When dealing with Democrats, you reach across the aisle, you pull back a stump.
Stand on First Principles.
I saw the kind of principles the Democrats have when the principled ones vocalized about their opposition to Federal funding of abortion and then caved during the passage of Obamacare.

Running off a loud mouth at halfwit teacher’s union members might be entertaining but its not his job. His job is also not waddling around with a microphone trying to make “provacative” statements for media attention. What has the Hambeast actually accomplished, huh? (Other than being a morbidly obese layabout collecting a fat gummint check and flaunting his abuse of government services for personal benefit, of course.)

Off topic, but out of curiousity do uppereastside and liberal4life lurk on this site 24/7 because whenever they post, they are ALWAYS in the first 5 posts. Are they sitting on their couches awaiting their government checks, laptops warmed up and ready to go. One thing for each of them to think about. If an HA regular or a Freeper were to try to comment on KOS or DU, as they do here, they wouldn’t last 5 posts before they were banned.

xkaydet65 on April 10, 2012 at 5:26 PM

My theory, -several people, employees of the democratics’ favorite Nazi stooge George Soros, have access to the IDs and passwords and check them out when they show up for ‘work’.

The question of compromise is one that I haven’t yet resolved for myself, but Christie’s words come as an encouragement as I grapple with the question of when to stand on principle — even if it means someone else is able to run amok in the implementation of principles that are completely contrary to my own — and when to compromise. The first key is to forge relationships with those with whom we disagree. It’s indispensable and important, just as it’s indispensable and important to forge relationships with like-minded folks so as to be fortified when victory in the fight appears impossible.

You are a very nice woman Tina, but naive. The problem is the definition of compromise means something completely different for the left. They do not negotiate in good faith. Compromise to them is simply a temporary setback.

Off topic, but out of curiousity do uppereastside and liberal4life lurk on this site 24/7 because whenever they post, they are ALWAYS in the first 5 posts. Are they sitting on their couches awaiting their government checks, laptops warmed up and ready to go. One thing for each of them to think about. If an HA regular or a Freeper were to try to comment on KOS or DU, as they do here, they wouldn’t last 5 posts before they were banned.

xkaydet65 on April 10, 2012 at 5:26 PM

I am a little intrigued by this. Could the Hotair management get the tech guys to find out where they are posting from. I bet it is the office of some leftist group.

The question of compromise is one that I haven’t yet resolved for myself…

This one is a bit long, but it’s very good. On conservative compromise, via Peggy Noonan, a yardstick metaphor:

Imagine that over at the 36-inch end you’ve got pure liberal thinking—more and larger government programs, a bigger government that costs more in the many ways that cost can be calculated. Over at the other end you’ve got conservative thinking—a government that is growing smaller and less demanding and is less expensive. You assume that when the two major parties are negotiating bills in Washington, they sort of lay down the yardstick and begin negotiations at the 18-inch line. Each party pulls in the direction it wants, and the dominant party moves the government a few inches in their direction.

But if you look at the past half century or so you have to think: How come even when Republicans are in charge, even when they’re dominant, government has always gotten larger and more expensive? It’s always grown! It’s as if something inexorable in our political reality—with those who think in liberal terms dominating the establishment, the media, the academy—has always tilted the starting point in negotiations away from 18 inches, and always toward liberalism, toward the 36-inch point.

Democrats on the Hill or in the White House try to pull it up to 30, Republicans try to pull it back to 25. A deal is struck at 28. Washington Republicans call it victory: “Hey, it coulda been 29!” But regular conservative-minded or Republican voters see yet another loss. They could live with 18. They’d like eight. Instead it’s 28.

For conservatives on the ground, it has often felt as if Democrats (and moderate Republicans) were always saying, “We should spend a trillion dollars,” and the Republican Party would respond, “No, too costly. How about $700 billion?” Conservatives on the ground are thinking, “How about nothing? How about we don’t spend more money but finally start cutting.”

Okay we have an “across the aisle” consensus…Christie is a fat guy. Rush is a fat guy, Michael Moore is a giant tub of goo Rosie O Donald shops in Tents R Us. Okay that’s settled now how about a minimally cogent response to what he said. We as a nation have an embarrassingly large percentage of the population with their mouths welded to the government teat. It doesn’t make the country great. It makes it weak and needy. Geez you Libs just wear me out

I just seen the full Video, now I feel crappy about everything bad I said about the Governor

well gee booglewhatever I see yu r a gradeate of a govirnment skool. Ure writ you didn lern–for future reference there glittering jewel of intellect post in the morning when the beer and cheap tequelia has worn off-

For conservatives on the ground, it has often felt as if Democrats (and moderate Republicans) were always saying, “We should spend a trillion dollars,” and the Republican Party would respond, “No, too costly. How about $700 billion?” Conservatives on the ground are thinking, “How about nothing? How about we don’t spend more money but finally start cutting.”

RightKlik on April 10, 2012 at 10:04 PM

That’s what happens when ‘conservatives’ compromise.
There was a lot of Conservative compromise that gave us the New Deal.
They’re all scammers.
Take the Federal Govt back to its ENUMERATED powers.
THIS was the original intention.
That was the fuel for real progress.

It was actually because I talked to a friend last night who was pretty bummed out, and had a lot to do with the themes the Gov brought up, and my friend is heavy set, so ya know..well probably not because you can spell but obviously cant think.

There’s nothing wrong with compromise in some cases. But you compromise doesn’t balance a family’s checkbook, and it wont’ balance the Federal budget, either.

I agree with Christie’s overall point, though. Conservatives need to help liberals understand that we’re not actually the evil, stupid caricatures that we’re often portrayed as. We advocate policies that we believe will help everybody, and reduce the current and future reach of government into our lives. But GOP politicians usually ignore the reasons for our policies, opting for vague sound bites.

The truth is, conservatism can be articulated pretty well in sound bites. Christie shows that just about every time he speaks.